It wasn't love at first sight for Chopin and George Sand, for obvious reasons - men's pants, cigars and all the rumors about Mrs. Sand put Chopin off. Gradually, however, Chopin realized that with George Sand he could pour out all those feelings deep inside him. In later years, George Sand was to Chopin what Clara was to Schumann, or Mrs. Meck was to Tchaikovsky, not only in the life of selfless care, but also in the spirit of giving long-lasting support and encouragement. These immortal women behind the scenes of the artistic stage were not women whose appearance was made irrelevant by their extraordinary minds. Goethe summarized his life's experience in a few lines of poetry as the finale to Faust: "All that passes away is but a symbol. The ...... Eternal Feminine leads us up!"